Wednesday, October 12, 2011

10/12/2011
Quite frankly, it just
doesn’t make sense for a presidential adviser, or for that matter, any
Palace executive, as well as governors and members of Congress, to be
licensed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) high-powered rifles
that are claimed to have their permit to carry, outside of their homes.

As
the rules say, only military and police in their uniforms detailed to
the official are licensed to carry high-powered rifles, which may be
acceptable under certain circumstances especially if they serve as
security men of the official who is being targeted for death.

But
it does not make any sense for a government official to be given the
permit to carry high-powered rifles, even if he is under threat..... MORE

10/12/2011
Malacañang has this penchant
for butting into the affairs of other departments, and even has the gall
to give them advice, as if it is the all-knowing law and sole
government and what it says must be followed.

Noynoy spokesman,
who really should mind more what he says because whatever he utters is
taken as the statement of his boss, yesterday did it again, telling the
high court that it should be more careful in giving its decisions for
the high court not to have to recall its rulings, as it is in the case
of the Philippine Airlines flight stewards whose final decision in its
case gainst PAL, was recalled by the Supreme Court (SC) on an issue of
some technicality and will be taken up by the court en banc instead.

What
the heck is the business of Malacañang telling the court to be more
careful in its decisions and not make such mistakes as recalling the
ruling? The judiciary is not the Palace’s domain and Malacañang really
should be prudent not to even comment on the move of the high court,
especially as this is not a case lodged by the Palace before the SC..... MORE

by INA ALLECO R. SILVERIOBulatlat.com
Despite his denial that he supports moves to amend the 1987
Philippine Constitution, President Benigno Aquino III is hard-pressed to
prove that he is against charter change. A lawmaker has even said that
Aquino’s own party is at the forefront of efforts to do it.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño recently revealed that since its
formation, the party that Aquino leads is leading efforts to selling
the Philippines to foreign interests particularly the United States.
Casiño was referring to the Liberal Party which now holds majority seats
in the House of Representatives.
Casiño made his charge in the wake of reports from the New York-based
think tank Global Source that the latest initiatives to amend the
charter has a “fair chance” of succeeding this time around despite lack
of support from Aquino.

In an October 3 commentary written by Filipino economists Romeo
Bernardo and Margarita Gonzales, Global Source noted that while Aquino
is not championing charter change, he is not standing in the way of
Congress as it continues proceedings leading to charter amendment.

The US think tank is pushing for the removal of foreign equity limits
on economic activity in the 1987 Constitution, which includes the
following: operation and management of public utilities (40 percent),
exploitation of natural resources (40 percent), educational institutions
(40 percent), advertising agencies (30 percent) and private land
ownership (40 percent if a Philippine corporation). No foreign equity
is allowed in media ownership..... MORE

10/12/2011
WARSAW — A new party which
challenges Poland’s powerful Roman Catholic church led by
tycoon-provocateur Janusz Palikot made a surprise breakthrough in its
electoral debut Sunday, soaring to a third spot finish.

“Life is beautiful. Everything is
possible,” Palikot told a roaring crowd of supporters at his Warsaw
campaign headquarters Sunday night.

“It’s a great inspiration to
know that in Poland there are millions of people who want a secular
state, a civil and friendly state in which one’s faith is the private
matter of each individual,” he said..... MORE

10/12/2011
WASHINGTON — Republican
hopefuls insist the 2012 White House race will hinge on the economy, but
it is the conservative hot-button issues of race and religion that
currently dominate the campaign.

Frontrunner Mitt Romney’s Mormon
faith, debated at length when he ran for president in 2008, was decried
as a “cult” by an evangelical supporter of his main challenger, Texas
Gov. Rick Perry.

Race relations ensnared Perry after the
Washington Post pointed out that his family’s rented hunting lodge had,
for many years, the abhorrent name “Niggerhead” emblazoned on a large
rock at its entrance.

Social issues are massively important in US elections, especially in the
Republican primaries. Americans have always had a Christian president,
and until Barack Obama, they’ve always been white..... MORE

10/12/2011
No, we are not talking here
of the affairs of state after “Pedring” and “Quiel.” That topic has been
so written and discussed to death there maybe no new things to say.
Rather, I am concerned about another affair which, if we don’t prepare
well enough, may turn out to be another big embarrassment not only to
this harassed administration but to the country as a whole.

I am
talking about the 45th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) Board of Governors to be held from May 2 to 5 next year. Until we
heard it from our Filipino banker friends based overseas, we were not
even aware that the administration has actually agreed to host this high
level meeting which may draw thousands of participants (that includes
the NGOs and POs who have become regular fixtures in such gatherings) to
our shores.

Which is why we are asking: Who is minding the
store to ensure the event’s success in all respects. We cannot leave
everything to the ADB secretariat although a close and proper
coordination with it will be very critical. The ADB will do, as it has
been doing, all through the years, what needs to be done. That is
prepare the agenda, coordinate the events and advise would be
participants what to expect..... MORESource: The Daily Tribune

Senate
President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago are once
again engaged in a clash, this time on the matter of the feasibility of
amending the Constitution through a mode being proposed by Sen. Franklin
Drilon labeled by him as a “bicameral constituent assembly.”

Enrile
issued a challenge to Santiago, telling reporters in an interview
yesterday to put to test his position on Charter change (Cha-cha) before
the Supreme Court.

“I’m not as bright as she is, but I can assure
you that she can take it up. She can go to the SC and I think she will
lose,” the upper chamber chief said.

Santiago, chairman of the committee on constitutional amendments,bopenly
expressed her strong dissent on the manner constitutional changes has
been recommended by her colleagues to be taken up during a bicameral
session, where only the economic provisions would be amended, and done
through the same process as legislating a bill in Congress..... MORE

Malacañang
appeared stirring up intrigue over the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling
recalling its September decision ordering the reinstatement of
Philippine Air Lines (PAL) flight attendants who were fired from their
jobs in 1998 as it expressed surprise on the SC’s “sudden turnaround.”

At
a press briefing yesterday, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said
while he did not want to make a comment on the SC ruling, he,
nonetheless, said that he was puzzled by the new ruling.

“With
this new turn-around, we do not wish to comment on the latest decision
by the Supreme Court because it’s something that they should explain
themselves. So we…I myself wondered how such a technicality was
overlooked by the Supreme Court but that’s as far as we can comment on
it. But the original decision with Fasap, I think DoLE Secretary
(Rosalinda) Baldoz, upheld the position of the flight stewardess,”
Lacierda said..... MORE

The
ad-hoc panel created by the House of Representatives to investigate the
alleged ballot switching at the South Wing Lobby of the Batasan complex
yesterday lamented the inability of the Philippine National Police (PNP)
Special Action Force (SAF) to help in its investigation.

According to Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada, head of the ad-hoc panel, the chief of the PNP-SAF has informed the House of Representatives
Fact-Finding ad hoc committee that they can no longer locate records of
troop movements in the first quarter of 2005.

Tañada said that
Police Director Catalino Cuy, PNP-SAF director, in a letter to the
panel, had said that the records of SAF troop movements in 2005 being
requested by the fact-finding body are no longer available..... MORE

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is again up to its old dirty tricks of fabricating “evidence” and information.

A
prominent international human rights group has accused the Philippine
military of fabricating information that children they take into custody
are child soldiers.

An independent investi-gation conducted by
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) “found strong evidence”
indicating that the accounts of the detained minors’ involvement with
rebel groups “were fabricated by the military.”

Although it
acknowledged that many children are being used as combatants by
communist and Muslim rebel groups, HRW said tagging those who are
innocent as child warriors endangers the lives of the minors and
undermines efforts to stop the recruitment process..... MORE

The
Supreme Court has upheld Malacañang’s orders of perpetual
disqualification from public office of a former general manager of the
Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) implicated in alleged anomalies
in regulating fish pens.

In a 27-page decision by Justice Jose
Catral Mendoza, the Court granted the petition of the Office of the
President and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission to reinstate the
OP’s June 29, 2004 decision.

The decision found former LLDA
General Manager Calixto Cataquiz liable and ordered his dismissal,
forfeiture of benefits, and lifetime ban from reemployment in the
government.

It was later amended to impose only the penalties of perpetual
disqualification and forfeiture of retirement benefits following
Cataquiz’s replacement as LLDA general manager. The Court held that the
dismissal of the criminal case against Cataquiz does not bar the finding
of administrative liability. It stressed that the administrative
liability is separate and distinct from penal and civil liability..... MORE

10/12/2011
Operatives of the Caloocan
City police arrested early yesterday morning two of the three suspects
who allegedly took turns in raping before killing an employee of the
University of the Philippines (UP).

The cash reward of P100,000
offered by Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri apparently helped in the quick
solution of the case after a former robbery gang mate led the local
police to the whereabouts of the suspects.
Presented before the
mayor by city police chief Senior Supt. Jude Wilson Santos were Eric
Macaraan, 18, and Jason Pillago, 16, who was said to be a lookout.
Unfortunately, the third suspect, Erro Allid alias “Dandan,” who
allegedly played a key role in the crime, remains scot-free.

The
suspecthttp://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20111012met3.htmls, whose identities were first established by another robbery
male victim through the police’s photo gallery, refused to comment on
their arrest made by Santos’ men who tracked them down at their hideouts
in San Roque, Plaridel and Obando both in Bulacan province..... MORE

10/12/2011
The Lopez-owned First
Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) could be assessed additional P200,000
per day, on top of the P24-million penalty for the petroleum leak at
the basement of the West Tower Condominium in Barangay Bangkal, Makati
for dumping fuel- contaminated water into the sewage of the city which
could affect two other neighboring cities. Lawyer Lorna Kapunan, legal
counsel for the West Tower residents, told a press forum in Quezon City
that a complaint against FPIC was filed with the National Capital Region
of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-NCR) on
Aug. 5, 2011 and is now pending with the Environmental Management Bureau
(EMB) for submission to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB). If
found to have indeed been dumping contaminated water into the estero and
sewage system, FPIC would be again assessed P200,000 per day since the
violation would be found to have started as complained by the residents,
DENR-PAB Secretary Jonas Leones said. The PAB earlier had penalized the
FPIC with P24.2 million fine for the petroleum leak that started on
July 12, 2010 when the leak was discovered until it had been plugged.
The leak which forced some 250 residents to abandon the 22-story
condominium was believed to have seeped through the ground water in the
said barangay..... MORESource: The Daily Tribune